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Thailand, Eastern Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula
General Body Form:
Different from most other Rasbora species, the Harlequin is stocky and
tall with a convex belly area. Males are more slender than the females.
They can reach a length of around one and three quarter inches (4.5cms)
Coloration:
Perhaps the most characteristic feature of this species is the triangular
shaped, Blackish Blue marking, which begins wide in the center of the
body and becomes narrower as it extends back to the start of the Caudal
fin. In the females the lower front of the Triangle is often indistinct,
while in the males it has a sharp edge that extends down toward the
belly area. The dorsal fin is a Red color with a yellow tip. The upper
and lower tips of the Caudal fin are a bright Red with the inside rays
being a pale Yellow. The Base coloration of the body is a silver color
and the sides range from a Pink all the way to a Copper color.
Maintenance:
All Rasbora species are peaceful and unaggressive and can be kept with
fish of similar temperament. They are strong swimmers and in nature
prefer to be in small schools. They like to stay in the upper areas
of the aquarium. Your tank should provide plenty of open space for swimming
as well as some dense plantings to serve as shelter. The water temperature
should be kept around 76f. Rasboras prefer soft water and if possible
you should use a peat filter bag in your filter, (Tetras will benefit
also ) They will eat flake, frozen as well live food.
Biotope:
Still, usually clear waters in Southeast Asia
Breeding:
Many species of Rasbora will breed without too much difficulty, spawning
freely in soft, neutral or slightly Acidic water. Unfortunately Rasbora
Heteromorpha is not one of these. The water should be very soft with
a hardness of 1.5 to 2.5 DH and a Ph of around 6.0. A long breeding
tank is also beneficial with a dark substrate. The mating consists of
the pair lying upside down under a leaf or similar with the male curling
his tail around the female. It may take several days in the spawning
tank before mating takes place. The parents will eat their own eggs
so it is very important to remove them from the tank right away. After
the parents are removed you should carefully lower the water to a depth
of four or five inches. The eggs will hatch in 24 to 30 hours and in
three to five days the fry become free swimming. The young should be
fed on baby brine shrimp and other small foods. Growth is fairly rapid.

Please remember that
the following comments are personal experiences and may or may
not apply to your setup. Use them as guide to help better understand
your fish, like us all individuals will behave differently under
different circumstances.

From: DavidDate:06/05/2010 I have a 20 gallon
tank that contains 8 Harlequins. They are full grown at two inches
in length. They are kept with 12 full grown zebra danios, a full
grown red tailed black shark, two full grown butterflyfish, and
a eight inch black ghost knifefish. The rasboras are very active
and even school and play tag with my danios. I hope that the bgk
will get used yo them and will not have them for dinner one night,
but so far do good. My temperature is around 78 F, and my ph is
6.5. The fish are fed flakes, bloodworms, frozen brine shrimp,
and live ghost shrimp. These are the perfect fish for any tank.
From: RichardDate:04/18/2010 I have just acquired
9 of these fish in their juvenile stage around 1cm long. They
are probably the most active fish I have encountered & are always
shoaling & darting about. They are in a moderately planted 4ft
(240L) tank with 4 juvenile Marble Angels. Simply stunning.
From: Andrew Givens Date:10/22/2009 I currently keep
5 harlequins in a 16x8x8" clear-seal tank with algarde biofoam
filter at 26c in soft, slightly acidic water. An arcadia original
tropical lamp really highlights their colours! Dark sand and Java
fern on small pieces of bogwood suits them well. Their tankmate
is a male Betta splendens who is happy and confident in their
company - the harlequins have made the betta more active and brazen!
I've also kept them in a large mixed community - they've always
done well in any tank, but keep them away from angelfish! They
are rather disease-resistant, very adaptable and easy to feed.
A great starter fish.
From: mllecathryn Date:1/24/2007 These fish are
excellent schoolers! They are so fun to watch in an aquarium since
they swim together so well. Also, they are hardy, attractive,
and get along well with other fish!
From: Jake Date:12/15/2003 These are lovely,
active rasboras. They do best in slightly acidic, soft water.
Keep about 12 of these and you will have a glorious sight to behold.
From: Olie Date:07/09/2002 I have eight of
these and they seem to thrive on mosquito larvae, some kind of
bugs that run across the water's surface, frozen foods and flakes.
I also have guppies tetras and kribs and a new firemouth. There
are corys , coolie loaches and some others which I can't name.
They bred once but like what I said in the firemouth section,
the large and very territorial kribensis male stopped them in
the their tracks and the eggs soon rotted away.
From: CazDate:12/04/2002 Rasboras, are
wonderful little fish, I have 8 in my tank, 2 have been with us
for over a year now and the other 6 we have had for 8 months.
They are so hardy, I had a serious bout of white spot a few months
ago, half my fish died but all survived without a spot. I would
recommend these fish to any community tank, they are lovely little
fish.
From: anonymousDate:3/01/2003 I just recently
got 4 harlequin Rasboras and now I cant live without them! I got
them because I knew they are very fast, high spirited fish. The
first time I put them in my tank everything started moving around
and got very active. They are such wonderful little fish!!!